IPv6 Act Now

Consider the possibilities that new applications present for the public sector. Mobile devices could help emergency personnel automatically triage and track the status of large numbers of disaster victims. Wireless sensors could help transportation agencies monitor the condition of bridges, highways and other critical infrastructure. And empowered by machine-to-machine technologies, physicians could remotely monitor the condition of elderly citizens, allowing them to safely remain in their own homes longer.

The Need for IPv6: IP addresses are the numeric identifiers that are assigned to every device connected to the Internet. When IPv4, the current Internet protocol technology, was introduced in 1981, no one imagined the vast number of addresses that would be consumed as various devices were created. The need for IP addresses will only continue to grow as we mobilize and connect devices.

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The Internet is about to change in a major way. Though this change will be imperceptible to most users, businesses everywhere must begin equipping their networks now for a successful transition to IPv6.

Network communication, just like a face-to-face conversation, requires a common language for the successful transfer of information, says Wynand Moller, D-Link Country Manager.

The common language of the Internet is known as the Internet Protocol (IP). When a networked device such as a computer or smartphone connects to the Internet through an Internet service provider (ISP), a unique IP address is assigned to the device. This IP address allows the device to be uniquely identified and subsequently communicated over the Internet.

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Transitioning to IPv6 can be daunting, but this two-part strategy will set the foundation for a successful rollout.

If all the excitement about IPv6 has finally convinced you to take a serious look at what’s involved in the transition, you’ll want to start with this framework. After all, transitioning to IPv6 can be daunting given it will affect every networked device on the planet and it is more than just a transition of technology, it’s also a transition of people and culture and the way we think.

Whether you are a small nonprofit with a couple employees and a basic website, or a multinational corporation with a globally distributed data center architecture, the framework presented here will help you bring your organization into the 21st century.

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Some 200 technology companies including Akamai, Facebook, and Google will make the switch to IPv6 during the World IPv6 Day trial for 24 hours June 8. The test is intended to see how ready technology companies are to handle IPv6 addresses as well as what to expect when Websites are obliged to enable IPv6 in the future. There could be glitches Wednesday, but the Internet Society (ISOC) estimates that 99.95% of all users worldwide will not notice anything at all this Wednesday.

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The Internet Society, an international nonprofit organization that advises on Web standards, policy and education, has declared June 8 World IPv6 Day to give enterprises and ISPs a chance to “stress test” the next-generation Internet protocol to see what works, what breaks and what they need to do to seamlessly migrate their networks to IPv6. It’s also a wake-up call that it’s time to upgrade the World Wide Web.

On that day, more than 200 Web companies—including giants Facebook, Google and Yahoo—will work with ISPs and content-delivery networks to conduct the first global-scale trial of IPv6. For a 24-hour period, participating companies around the world will enable IPv6 on their main services.

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